Suzuki Motor Corp. said Tuesday that group profits and sales increased for the first six months of fiscal 2001, thanks to a weaker yen and cost reduction efforts.
Suzuki's consolidated operating profits registered a 18.5 percent year-on-year rise to 31.2 billion yen on 871 billion yen group sales, up 6.4 percent.
The nation's top minicar maker, which also manufactures motorbikes, posted group pretax profits worth 27.1 billion yen, up 1.4 percent, while its consolidated net profits came to 11.1 billion yen, up 2.3 percent.
For the full fiscal year through the end of March, Suzuki projects group sales of 1.61 trillion yen, and net profit of 21 billion yen.
Nissan Diesel profits
Nissan Diesel Motor Co. said Tuesday that consolidated net profits in the first half to Sept. 30 surged 83.8 percent to 226 million yen.
The company attributed the rise mainly to a one-off gain from a surplus of pension reserves.
Group pretax profit by the truck and bus maker shrank 36.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.71 billion yen on an 8.4 percent fall in sales to 186.51 billion yen owing to slack exports of trucks and engines.
The company, owned 22.5 percent each by Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA of France, posted a one-off gain of 3.46 billion yen mainly as a result of a surplus of 2.04 billion yen in pension reserves, which more than offset the decline in overall sales.